One self employed builder, who sustained serious injuries after being crushed by a lorry loader’s brick clamp, may consider making a work accident claim in order to gain compensation for his pain and suffering.
Peter Hoy, forty seven years of age, had scrambled onto the roof of a cabin in order to assist Mark Pratten, a lorry driver, to position his crane in order to pick up some building materials which had been awkwardly situated behind an eight foot high wall, according to accident claim experts familiar with the incident. Mr Pratten had been attempting to allow his colleague a quick route down from the cabin roof by using the grab of his lorry’s crane when he inadvertently pressed the clamp button on the machine, crushing Mr Hoy between the brick clamp’s arms.
The builder suffered fractures to his pelvis in the incident, as well as suffering internal damage. According to the man’s personal injury claims, Mr Hoy was injured so severely he has been unable to return to work.
The Government’s Health and Safety Executive launched an investigation into the incident, discovering that the fifty three year old lorry driver had not been acting in an appropriate manner by attempting to use the brick clamp to lift Mr Hoy, as Mr Pratten was fully and completely aware was not a suitable use for the brick clamp.
At a recent hearing at Yeovil Magistrates’ Court, Somerset native Mark Pratten, of Radstock, was given a fine of £1,500 and assigned court costs of £1,000 for the part he played in Mr Hoy’s injuries, after entering a plea of guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. Mr Pratten is no longer employed following the incident, while Mr Hoy is still recovering from his injuries, with no way of knowing when he will be well enough to return.